


settling in to something

by bytheseas



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Family Feels, M/M, One Shot, a love song for the softer side of the dirtiest white boy in america, set towards the beginning of season twelve, some swearing because what else would you expect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:42:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29095206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bytheseas/pseuds/bytheseas
Summary: Mickey finds a job for himself.  It’s just not the one any of them expected.
Relationships: Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
Comments: 15
Kudos: 154





	settling in to something

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by my Shameless rewatch and soft moments Mickey has had with Yevgeny (i miss him), Liam, and Franny.

Mickey’s about to leave the house when he notices Franny sitting alone, at the table, backpack next to her chair. She’s watching him with wide eyes. 

“Where’s your mom at?” he asks her.

  
“At work. She left,” Franny gives words to the obvious. She swings her legs, back and forth, her blue eyes never leaving his face. “I have school soon.” 

“ _ Fuck _ ,” Mickey curses under his breath, and runs a hand through his hair. Debbie really needs to get her act together. You’d think after the kid had a day with Frank she wouldn’t have left Frannie again. “Alright, kid. Get your shit, I’ll walk you there.”

She jumps up, and grabs her backpack. He heads for the door and she follows. They walk in silence, until she grabs his hand before they cross the street. He starts, surprised by the touch, but he doesn’t pull away, instead holding on to her until they’re right in front of the door. 

“Who’s picking me up?” she asks, looking up at him like he has the answers. 

He wants to throw his hands up, but he stops himself, because it’s not her fault. Her mother will get a fucking earful, but the kid isn’t to blame at all for this whole situation. “I’ll be here,” he tells her. “Now scram - you won’t be late on my watch.” 

"Thanks, Uncle Mickey," She rushes in to hug him before she runs off, the quickest of movements, and he awkwardly pats her on the back before he lets her go. He shoves a crumpled five in her pocket, for lunch. 

\---

“I’m bringing her to school today, in case you wondered what’s going to happen to your child when you leave,” he tells Debbie the next morning, as he drops a bagged lunch in front of Franny. PB&J with the crusts cut off, because if he’s gone completely soft, he may as well lean into it. “I’ll pick her up too.”

“It was once!” Debbie says, loudly.

  
“Twice,” Sandy says, pointing to Debbie from her seat on the counter.

“I’m not debating this,” Mickey informs them. 

Debbie looks annoyed for a moment, but then she shrugs. “In that case, thanks. I’m late for work anyway,” she says. Ian shows up, and grabs a piece of bread from the toaster.    
  
“Being an uncle has turned your husband into a total softie,” Sandy tells Ian. “He packed her a bagged lunch, stay-at-home mom style.”

Mickey flips her off. “Threw some skittles in too. Good luck being the favorite uncle now,” he goads, as Ian leans in to kiss him. Ian just laughs, and ruffles his hair when he pulls back. 

\---

Lip rushes into the Gallagher house sometime past lunch one day, Fred in tow. He rolls the stroller up to the couch. He’s breathing heavily and he looks like a mess, but that’s par for the course with Lip these days. Being a good dad seems like quite the job.  


“Any chance anyone’s around? I have a dentist appointment and I can’t bring him. Fucking pandemic rules."  


Mickey tickles Fred and he laughs, a big belly laugh. “You go to a dentist now?  _ Fancy _ .”

“I know, man, it’s wild. Got to set a good example for the baby and shit,” Lip shrugs, then looks around again. “Seriously though, Debs back yet? Or Sandy?”

“Just leave him with me,” Mickey says, before he really thinks about it. 

Lip just looks at him like he has three heads, and Mickey guesses maybe that’s warranted. 

  
“I’m about to pick up Franny from school. I can push him along -- it’s not a big deal.”

“ _ Not a big deal _ , alright…” Lip pulls at his curls. “Alright, well, I’ll be fast. He just ate so he should be happy. Call me if you need anything. Thanks, man.”    
  


Mickey just nods, waving Lip towards the door. Lip takes off. 

Mickey unbuckles Freddie and sits him next to him on the couch. He turns the television back on, and Days of Our Lives plays. He holds the kid to him, and Freddie grabs onto one of his fingers, holding it tight.

“You can’t ever tell  _ anyone _ I watch this shit,” he says, shaking a finger in front of Freddie’s face. The baby looks right back at him like he’s taking it all in and then laughs, of all things, and Mickey shakes his head.

Lip ends up dropping Freddie off with Mickey whenever he has an errand to run during the day, and somehow he ends up spending more afternoons with his niece and nephew than he does alone. 

He doesn’t hate it.

Sometimes, when Freddie is asleep on his chest and Franny is yammering on about the characters on her favorite cartoon show, he admits to himself that he likes it. 

\---

The next time Ian gets on him about getting a job, Mickey doesn’t even have to speak for himself.  


“I just think it would be a good idea if you got a job,” Ian says, over dinner one night. Most of the family is sitting around the table and perched on the counter. Sandy swiped a few boxes of pizza off the Milkovich’s delivery boy. Even Frank showed up, lured in by the smell of freshly stolen food. 

Mickey’s about to freak the fuck out again, because it’s never as easy for him as it is for Ian to fit in -- it’s never as easy for him to find something, when Frank speaks up.

“I don’t know where you’ve been, son, but my favorite son-in-law here has been working around this place for weeks now, helping with my namesake and the youngest little rugrat.” Frank claps a familiar hand on Mickey’s shoulder as he passes on his way to the fridge. 

“Yeah that’s a terrible idea,” Lip breathes, shaking his head. "We need him around here."  


  
Tammi nods. “I flipped out on Lip the first time I heard who he left Freddie with -- no offense,” she looks to Mickey and he shrugs, unaffected. “but he’s better at getting the little shit to sleep in the afternoons than I am and I am  _ not _ losing that.”

“Yeah I’m going to have to say no that too,” Debbie grabs another slice. “He packs lunches and everything.”

  
“It’s about time this family had a stay at home mom to make me lunches,” Liam adds. “I haven’t had to swipe lunch from one of my teachers in weeks.” 

"I'm not your mom," Mickey flips Liam off. "But I do make a damn good lunch."

There’s something about all of them sticking up for him and seeing value in something that he does that has Mickey feeling this warmth in his chest, which he doesn’t know what to do with, but before he can say anything Ian’s arm is wrapped around him. “Alright, alright, I stand corrected. Sorry I didn’t notice how hard you’ve been working.” He kisses a spot just above Mickey’s ear, and Mickey grumbles theatrically but he’s smiling.

He’s found his place, somehow, and it’s weird but it works. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> [you can find me here](https://aziraphalescrowley.tumblr.com)


End file.
